Meeting of Kage: New Beginnings
Welcome to Konohagakure The sun slowly began to rise over the horizon. Setting it's very own mood to the day, standing out like a personality. The day was new, nothing had happened just yet. The colorful sky, clear of any nasty weather conditions illuminated down on the shinobi world. Birds flapped their wings, as they made their way through the sky. Looking to return home, or even find themselves a brand new home. They say "Don't live today like yesterday..." But was that really the case? How could one say such a thing, when the majority of humans believe the fact that history repeats itself. Morning was beautiful, and that was perfect for what was going to happen to today. History does indeed repeat itself, as a historical event from decades ago would be repeating itself yet again. This history would be in Konohagakure. The current Hokage stood out the balcony of his mansion. Placing his hand through his hair, his scratched it a little. "Man.. It seems finally I was able to reach out the that village." The Hokage stated, before finding his head pushed to the side by the presence of his trusty Hexagram K'un. "Well well, little Seigetsu, you sure are making progress." K'un states, before being interrupted by Seigetsu's abnormal silence. "Yeah, but still... Nothing about his whereabouts." Seigetsu was silent yet again, before speaking. "Very well then, the Raikage should be here any minute!" The sun shining was a welcome pace for the new Raikage. Considering it was monsoon season for the Land of Lightning, the village of Kumogakure saw very little of that. So seeing the sun for what seems like months was comforting. The Raikage in question was new to politics, having taken the reins after the previous Raikage stepped down under scrutiny, but showed to learn quickly in that field, pulling Kumogakure out of the brink of disaster in less than a month. The Raikage's name was Kiyasui Iro, a Storm Release specialist and ranked senior commander in the Kumogakure military before her honorable discharge. Approaching the gate, she gave the gate guard her summons, who in turn opened the gate for her. She had never stepped inside of Konohagakure before, in fact, she's never been in any other village other than Kumogakure. But she was going to have to learn to do this if she wants to begin creating political bonds with the other villages. Being the first female Raikage meant she had a lot more to prove, but she has proven her worth so far and hopes to continue doing so. Looking up at the village, she could notice its grandeur, how much it has changed over the years. From above, she could see the grand Hokage monument, showcasing the Hokage of the past within its rocky wall. She continued to make her way down the village until she noticed the Hokage residence. She looked up above to notice the Hokage overlooking the horizon and gave him a wave from below. "I believe she has made it, Seigetsu." K'un states taking on the firm of an avian resting assured on the shoulder of Seigetsu. "It's Hokage-sama!" Seigetsu yelled to the avian. K'un was unfazed simply answering with; "I've been with you before you knew how to dump. I think I have the right to call you whatever fits the occasion!" Seigetsu stood to his feet, as his assistant approached him with an item in his hand. That item was a hat, but not just any kind of hat. It was red, and along the sides was a side of see-through mesh material. Towards the center of it was a white triangular section, standing out from the rest of the red it was generally composed of. In the middle of the triangle was the symbol meaning fire. Clearly it was the Hokage's hat. Seigetsu stood to his feet, and reached for the hat, sitting back to his seat and placing it on his table. Signaling his assistant, Seigetsu spoke to him. "Tell him, he can go out the meet her now." His assistant dropped his head back, glueing his eyes to the ceiling. "Man, what a drag." The assistant stated in a matter of one asking for too much, or even him just being generally tired of completely different task. As the Raikage would continue her journey she would find herself intercepted by a unanimous man. "Hello Lady Raikage. I am here by orders of our Hokage to escort you to his quarters." He held his hand out in front of himself pointing his thumb up, with a large smile across his face. The man was about average height, but a bit on the slim side. He wore a green one piece suit, covered by a Konoha flak jacket over his top. His hair in a short bob style, looking great with his Konoha forehead protector. Topping his appearance off was his big goggle eyes, and very large eyebrows. He was: Rock Lee. "You must be Rock Lee. I have heard nothing but the grandest of legends about you. Lead the way." Tipping her Raikage hat to Lee, she followed closely behind him. "So is there any public news going on around the village lately? Would help me get a grasp of what's been going on, no doubt." She asked, looking around the grand building they walked through. She could see how much history decorated the mansion, the changes in architecture over time with some of the original architecture still remaining. The question the Raikage asked had seemingly stung Rock Lee, as he allowed an ominous silence to lift into the air. "Only thing I can think of off the top of my head is who killed Sasuke." Rock Lee continued his way through the mansion, doing as best he could to explain everything in the mansion. They finally made it to the final doors of the mansion, and Lee opened them for her to pass through them. If she peered through the door she could see the Hokage sitting at his desk, and could see a reclined chair empty with the kanji of lightning. Seigetsu assistant, , signaled the Raikage to enter the room, and behind her Lee would follow. Seigetsu instantly stood to his feet. Making her way into the Hokage's quarters, she approached Seigetsu, resting her hat on the vacant chair. "It is an honor to be meeting the esteemed Hokage face to face. I do hope we can develop some ties with each other that would help us out in the future. In the meantime, perhaps we can discuss some things our respective villages have had to go through in the recent events. Rock Lee had told me some events regarding the death, and possible murder, of Sasuke Uchiha. Perhaps we can exchange some information on the subject in return for some news going on in the Land of Lightning?" Bowing towards Seigetsu, she took the Raikage hat from the chair and sat down, taking note of the comfortable material that consisted of the cushion. "Now, if you've been following the events around the Land of Lightning, you may no doubt know about a civil war had broken out within Kumogakure. We have had some reasons to believe the civil war was not sparked by one of our own. We believe it was a ruse to force the Raikage out of power and to try and reinstate someone else. It succeeded, half of it anyways. It did force the Raikage out of power, but I don't think I'm the one they were hoping to be taking the position." Two Nations Converse Shikamaru gave off a sound as if he were surprised by the words that had travelled through his ears. "First I want to say, I am indeed sorry for your lost. I heard very illuminated things about your civil war, but since we weren't directly involved, our information was scarce." Seigetsu sat down slowly, brushing his hand through his hair as he did. "We have had many tragedies come about, first the death of Sasuke, then the disappearance of Lord Sixth. While it is primary that we find Lord Six, it is also peculiar as to how Sasuke-sama disappeared. We don't have any solid leads, but my platoon believes that its possible Kirigakure is responsible for the death of Sasuke. However, it is pretty clear that Iwagakure could also be considered suspects." Sigma sighed softly. "But we can go into more detail about that situation depending on your next answer for my question." "I'm all ears on the question you wish to ask me. I have been trying my best to keep close ears on the events going on in the world, but there's been so many things going on, most of those events are spoken under whispered hushes. But regardless, we can indeed continue if you ask me the question. As a new Raikage, I feel it is my duty to help those who I wish to consider allies. But before that can be done, I guess I have to prove that I can be trusted. With all that's been happening, trust is a very controversial subject, and one that has been broken for as long as betrayal has existed." Clearing her throat, she awaited the Hokage's response. Seigetsu nodded at Shikamaru, and he looked back at his Kage. "As you know in the past, Konoha's Uchiha clan hasn't made the best history with that of Kumogakure. How the Uchiha, specifically targeted your jinchūriki. We are unsure if you know, seeing how you have just now take office, but Seigetsu, while he does bear the surname "Senju" is indeed of the prestigious Uchiha, considered this generation's prodigy. He has the eyes at which your villagers have hunted for, but we are here to put that in the past. I speak for every single shinobi in this village when I say Seigetsu is nothing like his ancestors. While his abilities may run parallel to his grandfather, he uses them for nothing but positive things. Today, we have called you here for an alliance, and now we are asking your answer." "As far as I'm concerned, the past must be able to remain as such. Those who remain in the past amount to nothing. And if you were to ask me, one's surname should not dictate who they are, but rather the deeds they commit. The Uchiha have been blamed for so much for a long time, but in the past three decades, the Uchiha have proven to be invaluable allies to those they helped. And Sasuke is no exception to that. His deeds were controversial, that's all too true. But over time, he changed. This I know all too well. I was only a little girl when I heard of his deeds, but he proved to be a great hero to Konohagakure and the Land of Fire, even given his vagabond nature. To me, the only Uchiha enemy was Madara. And he is long gone. Now, you ask for an alliance between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning. As far as I'm concerned, I don't see why two lands couldn't help each other out, especially in dark times such as this. One land is recovering from a brutal civil war, the other still trying to shrug off its former image as an unintentional enemy. My country can help provide goods and services you wouldn't normally find in Konohagakure that I believe may help you in the future." Letting out a slow breath, Kiyasui was as nervous as ever, given this is the first time she's put herself in such a strong political position. "The last thing I want is an enemy, but I do know I'll be making enemies in the future by accepting the alliance with you. But if it means I can gain a powerful ally, I'm willing to make that sacrifice. I'd rather go to war knowing I've got someone by my side than to go it alone. I had already gone through one war on my own and I'm not quite in the mood for another. I've had to kill people who I knew for years for the sake of Kumogakure. And when you're having to do that, you've no idea just how alone you are." With a quick gesture of relief, Seigetsu laid across the table panting. "I'm too young for all of this.." The young Hokage exclaimed before Shikamaru continued on with his speech. "Very well then lady Raikage, consider Kumogakure, allies of Konohagakure..." Seigetsu's one slumped self began to sit up, he looked at the Raikage, who seemed to be in her mid-twenties in he had any say. "I remember we nearly had a civil war. But we were lucky enough to bypass it. Anywho, now we have to map out our potential enemies and as I said before Kiri is number one. On the list." Seigetsu handed it over to Shikamaru. "Now, the reason we beleive Kirigakure is possibly responsible for Sasuke's death, is from the past events. The event of which manipulated the Mizukage, utilizing the Sharingan. Now, the way Sasuke died, which we don't know how he did, makes it possible he was killed by very skilled and train assassins. Which Kirigakure can produce quite well. This point was brought to me by the Hokage, which is even I, a skilled strategist wouldn't even think of." Shikamaru paused, forming room for the Raikage if she wanted to speak. "Right, what better place to harbor an assassin than Kirigakure? Their entire history has been dictated by how well their assassins were at killing. It's what gave them their longstanding moniker. Obito was perhaps craftier than some of the greatest minds the ninja world has produced. He was a regular Moriarty in his methods. But anyways, I would keep a careful eye on Iwagakure, as well. They've been bitter with Konohagakure since the day Naruto pardoned Sasuke for his crimes. Iwagakure itself isn't short of its own assassins. They've got plenty of motive for Sasuke's murder, but so did Kirigakure, so I think at this point it all came down to opportunity. Though Iwagakure was bitter, they weren't the only ones. Kirigakure had its own reasons for hating the Uchiha from what you stated with Obito. So Iwagakure and Kirigakure are perhaps the biggest leads in this investigation. I guess the question that begs to be asked here is who had the most opportunity to kill Sasuke?" It all seemed like a mystery that begged to be solved, but then Kiyasui began thinking of something else. "What if this was a ruse to pin the murder on another country? It's not hard to create a counterfeit forehead protector, it's the theory we've been running on the civil war's start, and if you're observant and patient enough, you can train yourself to mimic some deadly assassins. Regardless, whoever it was, and whether or not it was for revenge or to frame someone, they're crafty, as you said." Who Goes First? "Oh no!" Seigetsu shouted, sitting up firm. "I will not exclude Iwagakure from out suspensions. My only thing here, is motive. I need a solid motive to go by before we do anything for taking action." Shikamaru held his hand out. "Now before we set our sights out on who we will proceed first, it is important we tell you this. Lord Hokage doesn't fight to fight. He fights to defend, no matter what the situation is. Even if he is a tad bit on the childish side. There will be times, when he may take quite a while before making a decision. Are you okay with that? In addition to that, if we chose to keep our eyes out for the potential target, would you agree upon pursing Kiri?" "I know what it means to have to defend something. I don't wish to fight if it's not something talks could settle. But if fighting must be done, I do it under the pretense of protection. If it meant providing help to Konohagakure, I'll be willing to pursue Kirigakure. I understand they possess a powerful military in their Seven Mist Swordsmen, but if they do indeed provide a threat, it's a risk we'd all have to take in protecting ourselves." Looking down at her hat, she realizes the amount of honor there is in protecting something or someone. It's the way of every honored hero to prove their worth and honor. So if she had to fight, she'd be willing to. "Very well then!" Seigetsu exclaimed jumping from his seat. "Is there anything you need from us, or that you would like to go over? Really, anything." Shikamaru asked, being interupted by Seigetsu's fake coughs. "A date.. A date..." Seigetsu stated consistently. Letting out a slight chuckle, Kiyasui could hear Seigetsu's coughed mutterings. "Maybe one day, Hokage. But not this day. We've got a world that's in dire need of saving. The game is afoot, and whoever is behind my village's civil war and the murder of Sasuke Uchiha must be discovered. This could quickly become a matter of international levels. We need to find out the connections before villages start pointing fingers at the wrong people." "Well you know what they say, early bird catches the worm. But you were the bird who came out to find the worm. I laid underground awaiting the perfect opportunity, to be caught. I invited you on political terms, but when those priorities were put aside, I went with the secondary plan." Sigma sighed standing to his feet placing his honorable hat on top of his head. "And when that day arises, it'll be like one you never had."